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Do you ever just feel…insignificant? Does your routine seem pointless?

Right or wrong, sometimes I start to wonder what I’m doing. Does any of it matter at all? Or is all the mundane just madness?

Sisters, please tell me I am not alone. Can I get a big—

Yes! Me too!?

Maybe it happens to everyone. Or maybe it’s just the way my brain is wired. All I know is I start to ponder the big picture and try to find my place in it:

In the realm of eternity, how does my less-than-remarkable life play into God’s big plan?

Earlier this year I read a book called Heavenly Man. An incredible book about the life of an inspiring man of God from China. This man’s story is infused with reports of mind-bending persecution and suffering. His testimony is laced with accounts of modern day New Testament-style miracles and missions from God. How God is using this man’s life for His kingdom is so vivid. So obvious. So very significant!

Then there is me.

Typing on my computer. Mom-ing and wife-ing my days away. My story, at first glance, appears to be so trivial. My testimony so tame. My life so insignificant to the cause of Christ. But is it?

In 1 Samuel there is a group of men that recently came to my attention. In chapter 10, God is rolling out a pretty significant part of His plan—He’s confirming his call on Saul’s life to be king. He does this by giving Saul a couple of different signs. Samuel describes one of those signs like this:

“…And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince over his heritage….Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand.” ~~ Selected excerpts from 1 Samuel 10:1-4 ESV ~~

It’s the three men mentioned in verse three that I want to look at for a minute. We know little about them. But I’m going to guess they are three ordinary men, going about their ordinary lives, having a rather ordinary day. At least that’s probably how they perceive it.

Maybe they woke up that morning, went out to the pasture and wrangled those three little goats. Maybe they breathed in the delicious aroma of the freshly baked loaves as they cleaned up and put on their worship clothes. Perhaps they kissed their wives goodbye before they started walking the dusty trail to “go to church.”

I don’t know the details. God could have appeared to them personally that morning and commanded them exactly what to bring and where to be and told them why. But I’m guessing that’s not how it happened.

I’m thinking this whole scene was nothing out of the ordinary. It was probably routine for them. Probably what they always did when they were going to worship.

Just another day in their life.

And if that was indeed the case, our unnamed friends probably had no idea they were about to encounter the future king on their journey. And I kind of doubt that extending a greeting to a passerby and sharing some bread was a very momentous occasion in their lives. Chances are, they had no idea they were on a mission appointed by God.

There they were, three buddies, doing their normal thing. And all the while——–

God was making history from their humdrum.

God was weaving their dedication to the daily into His divine design.

Wow! Does that speak to your spirit as much as it does mine?

If it happened in the life of our anonymous amigos in I Samuel 10, maybe it’s happening in my life—and yours!

And maybe it happens Every. Single. Day.

Look at John 6 with me. You’re familiar with the miracle of the loaves and fishes, I’m sure. But oh, ladies! The untold story here really speaks to me.

In chapter 6, Jesus has just told his disciples that they are going to feed thousands of hungry people. They searched the crowd for food and what did they find? Andrew says in verse 9:

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish…”

In a crowd of 5,000 men, and who knows how many more thousands of women and children, there was one boy. One boy who I picture jumping up and down by his mother’s side earlier that morning, tugging on her tunic, wide eyes pleading with her, “Mom! Mom! Jesus is coming!! Can I please go hear Him? Please! Please! Please!!!!”

What mom could resist that? I picture her replying: “Okay, okay, son. But first…”

And what does mom do? She packs her boy a lunch.

Oh my lands. Do I ever get tired of packing lunches. Three kids and a husband, day after day. Not the most significant-feeling part of my life, you know?

I don’t really know who packed this unnamed boy his lunch. Whether it was him, his mom, his grandma—it doesn’t matter. But packing that lunch was a silent assignment directly from God. And once again…

Packing a lunch. Who knew something so routine would become so remarkable in God’s hands?

Does this speak to your soul, friends?

Do you feel less-than as you change diaper after diaper?

Unseen as you sit behind your computer screen?

Ineffective for eternity even as you sit as CEO of a large company?

Unimportant as you work that assembly line?

Overlooked as you care for an aging parent?

Most of us haven’t been assigned to move mountains. But all of us have been placed where we are…intentionally and omnisciently. And when we are faithful to complete the tasks placed before us—when we serve Him wherever we are—He is faithful and capable to accomplish much through us, for His glory.

Now that’s a motivator to just keep on keeping on, isn’t it?

We may not see or feel or know the things God is doing through us. But we can trust that He has a plan…and we are part of it.

God in His perfect sovereignty chose to place me here, in this place, at this time in history. He chose to place you into the family you have, the life you live, and to surround you with the community you are part of. Our role, however we perceive it, is to be faithful in the big, the little, and everything in between. Because it’s not about us anyway.

It’s all about Him, His plan and His glory.

So let’s soldier on, sisters! There is something grand going on behind the ordinary. And maybe…just maybe, obedience in the insignificant is where God works out the details of the most significant parts of His plan.

Your DoAhead Friend,

Dana

{ And now drum roll please for the winner of our book give away for Hope Prevails….Mary Tullila! Please email your mailing address and we’ll get it to you lickety split!! 🙂 }

Dana is a lifelong lover of words with a passion for sharing stories of the heart—both her own and others. Her writings draw from her experiences as a woman, a writer, a wife, a mother of three, and a Bible-believing Jesus follower. She is a defender of truth, an avid proponent of common sense and a recovering (often relapsing) perfectionist still learning to lean in to grace. Her writing is an honest outpouring of her introverted heart, driven by a longing to inspire others to feel deeply, think critically and act compassionately. Dana shares her words as a monthly contributor at DoAhead Woman.